The criminal underworld thrives when the political class and the police join hands to allow it space for its activities in exchange for money and muscle. The public, the middle class in particular, feels threatened when extortions or kidnappings and abductions become common and when gangland murders increase.

In this scenario, enters the encounter specialist with his macho image and the guns under his belt. He is a junior officer, a sub-inspector or an inspector, with a little more dash and courage and bravado than other colleagues of his. A desperate leadership unwittingly leans on him to rid itself of public condemnation and criticism for not being able to tackle the criminals.

Basically, a leadership that encourages the specialists has opted for short cuts when in fact it should have tackled the real problem of corruption and connivance and lobbied for quicker dispensation of justice. The inroads of corruption in the higher echelons of leadership have contributed in no small measure to the steady deterioration of the security climate not only in the big cities but also in smaller cities and towns.

When the leadership of the police is corrupt, the contagion spreads rapidly. There is more emphasis on earning quick and easy money than on preventing or detecting crime. Lawlessness proliferates, the underworld spreads its tentacles and the public is naturally alarmed. Since sincere and professional policing has been temporarily shelved, other remedies have to be found to pacify the people. Thus, the encounter specialist saves a corrupt administration of many blushes.

... contd.